Today's skyrocketing building costs have caused many attempts to reduce the costs through the use of prefabricated modules or building sections, the use of more efficient materials and construction techniques, and design improvements which maximize the enclosed building space for the money expended on it. In the past, attempts have been made to reduce the cost of industrial type buildings by constructing them of corrugated sheets, usually metal sheets. Initially, the corrugated sheet was applied to a load carrying structure of columns, beams and purlins. Later on, the corrugated sheets have been utilized as load carrying members.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,765 illustrates one of the more recent approaches in that direction. According to that patent a corrugated metal building is constructed by forming corrugated sheet into load carrying, spaced apart upright walls and attaching thereto an inclined roof, also constructed of corrugated sheet. The joint between the roof and the upright wall is a miter joint incapable of supporting any load, a fact that is common to almost all prior art buildings.
To form a structurally sound roof-to-wall connection the referred to patent uses a supporting truss which is interposed between the inside of the roof and the inside of an upper region of the side wall. This truss transfers the weight and other loads carried by the roof to the side walls without stressing the mitered joint. This results in stress concentrations in both the roof and the side walls at the point at which the truss is attached to them, a highly undesirable characteristics of this as well as of all other prior art building employing a supporting frame structure. To reduce the stress concentrations, the reference patent suggests to install load equalizing plates which are secured to the portion of the wall and the roof at which the truss is attached.
Although the building disclosed in the discussed U.S. patent is a significant improvement over other prior art building constructions, particular corrugated building constructions, it has drawbacks. It is relatively complicated to build, requires a careful joining of the mitered ends of the upper side wall end and the lateral roof end, requires the manufacture of the trusses and of the load equalizing plates, and further requires their separate installations. All of this is time consuming and renders the building more costly. In addition, the truss disposed inwardly of both the side walls and the roof takes up interior, enclosed building space which could otherwise be utilized.
Other prior art building constructions use a variety of means such as beams, columns, purlins, or rafters, or a combination thereof, to adequately support and secure the building roof to the building side walls. U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,596 is illustrative of such attempts. In all instances, the manufacturing, installation and maintenance costs are relatively high and, additionally, costly enclosed space is rendered unusable.